Title: Bedhead
Author: DizzyDrea
Summary: Did you believe Nell's explanation for that lovely case of bedhead? Me either. This is what actually happened.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Out of the Past
Author's Notes: So. The Muse crawled under the couch about a month ago and refused to come out. Until Out of the Past aired. Miraculously, it was Nell's atrocious case of bedhead that got her to come out and play. I thought that telling Eric that she'd been drinking with Hetty was just a little too convenient. Plus, this is officially the point in the Scenes From an Accidental Courtship series where it goes from accidental to on purpose. Woo hoo!
Disclaimer: NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles and all its particulars are the property of CBS, Paramount, Donald P. Bellisario, Belisarius Productions, Shane Brennan, Shane Brennan Productions, and a lot of other people who aren't me. I am doing this for fun and for practice. Mostly for fun.

~o~

This morning…

Callen leaned in over Eric's shoulder, trying valiantly to suppress the grin struggling to break free. Nell's bedhead was just too adorable. He felt guilty not mentioning it to her, but the feeling only lasted a moment. There were more pressing things to worry about.

~o~

Last night…

G Callen wandered in to Ops, glancing around at the nearly empty room. It was late—nearly nine—and most everyone had gone home. Still, there was one person left in the room, typing furiously at the keyboard.

He took a moment to just watch her as she worked. She looked just as good as she had that morning when she'd walked in, but he could tell she was tired. Every so often she'd pause in her typing to roll her shoulders or stretch her neck. He had no idea how long she'd been there, but he suspected it had been a while.

No one could ever accuse Nell Jones of slacking off, but he was only now realizing the toll that must take on her. Thankfully, there was something he could do about that.

Callen moved silently across the room and stepped behind her chair, leaning over and grabbing Nell's wrists. Her head popped up, pressing back into his stomach.

"Something I can help you with, Agent Callen?" she asked.

Callen smiled down at her. "As a matter of fact, Ms. Jones, there is."

She raised an eyebrow at him. It was probably meant to be intimidating, but with her face upside down, it was somewhat more comical. He stepped around her, hooking the chair next to hers with his foot and dropping into it, never letting go of her wrists.

"Have dinner with me."

"I—what?"

If possible, the confused look she was giving him was funnier than the upside down eyebrow. But he knew laughing at her wasn't the way to get her to agree to dinner. In truth, it was long overdue, and he felt bad that he'd dragged this out as long as he had. Nell wasn't the person he'd expected to want to spend time with, but he supposed that was part of the attraction. She was unexpected—with her sassy wit and red pixie hair—and so unlike the women he normally found himself drawn to. But maybe that was the point: finding someone unlike the women he usually spent time with, someone who challenged him, someone who engaged him. Someone like Nell.

He mentally shook his head; those thoughts were for another time, when he wasn't trying to convince the object of his affection that dinner with him wasn't a recipe for disaster—pun fully intended.

"Dinner," he said, raising his own eyebrow. "You have heard of dinner, haven't you? It's that thing you do after lunch. Lots of people do it together. I thought we could, too. Unless you're not interested."

"No, no, I'm interested," she rushed to say. She blushed a bit, probably embarrassed at her enthusiasm. He found it endearing. "It's just, are you sure?" He opened his mouth to reply when she raised her hand, breaking out of his grip. "Of course you're sure; you wouldn't have asked if you weren't. But, I mean—You know what? I'm going to stop talking now."

Callen smirked as her blush deepened. He let go of her other hand, watching as they gravitated to each other, twisting and fidgeting in her nervousness. It was reassuring, in a way. At least he knew he wasn't the only one nervous about this.

He reached out and tucked a finger under her chin, lifting her eyes to meet his. "It's okay. I get it. But I'd still like to have dinner with you. If you'd like to have dinner with me."

"Hell yes," she blurted, then slapped a hand over her mouth. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, she dropped her hand. "I mean, yes, I'd like to have dinner with you."

"Good," Callen said. He stood up and held a hand out to her. "Let's go."

Nell's expression turned slightly panicked. "Wait, you mean now?"

Callen sighed. It shouldn't be this hard to take a girl out on a date. But he was out of practice, and at any rate, this was Nell. Things hadn't worked the way they were supposed to with her from the beginning. Why should tonight be any different?

"Unless you have something else you'd rather do?"

Her eyes flicked over to her monitor, then back to him. Suddenly, she stood up, meeting his eyes with that challenging gaze she sometimes used on the agents. If she was trying to see if he'd back down, she was in for a surprise.

"Nope. Let's go."

"Don't you want to close up what you were working on?" he asked, amused.

Nell wilted just a little. "Yeah, let me just…"

She turned to the computer and with a few clicks on her mouse everything was secured and shut down. She turned back to him, an expectant smile on her face. He held out a hand once more, raising an eyebrow when she didn't immediately take it. "Shall we?"

She reached out tentatively and slid her hand into his. He squeezed her hand, smiling at her when she finally met his eyes. Her answering smile warmed him all the way to his toes. Tugging her hand, he moved towards the sliding doors, Nell following behind.

"Where are we going?" she asked as they headed down the stairs.

"What are you in the mood for?"

They stopped at Nell's locker to pick up her bag. She turned to face him as she settled it over her shoulder, an incredulous look on her face. "You mean you asked me to dinner and you didn't have a plan?"

"Just for that, I'm going to choose, and you'll just have to be surprised," he said, smirking at her once more.

"As long as it's not squid, I'm okay," she said.

Callen took her hand once more, leading her out of the building. "Nope, you don't get to set conditions."

Nell rolled her eyes at him, but he just smiled all the wider as he led her to his car. "You know, you're not very good at this," she said.

"I'm a little out of practice," he admitted as he turned to face her. "Bear with me?"

She smiled at him, a smile so sweet that it nearly stopped his heart.

"Yeah."

"Then let's go."

~o~

"So, your grand plan was sushi?" Nell asked as she glanced around the restaurant.

Between them, they'd pretty well demolished several plates of sushi, including a spicy tuna roll that was to die for. It had been fantastic, actually, despite the fact that their conversation had been halting and a little awkward. It felt like so many other first dates to her, though, that she was somewhat reassured, despite the slight discomfort.

"Not just any sushi," Callen said, pointing an uneaten edamame at her. "This is Mizu."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, that explains everything."

"It does, doesn't it?" he said. He cocked his head, looking at her critically. "You do like sushi?"

"Isn't it a little late to be asking me that?" she asked.

Callen shrugged. "Maybe, but you still didn't answer my question."

Nell chuckled. "Of course I like sushi. I like you enough to not lie about that."

"Good," Callen said. "I'd hate to think you couldn't be honest with me."

"I'm not a wallflower, despite what it may look like."

"And I never suggested that you were," he said. "Remember, I like girls with guns."

She smiled. "Why thank you, Agent Callen."

He frowned. "Maybe you shouldn't call me that. At least, not while we're on a date."

"Then what should I call you?" she asked.

To be honest, she hadn't given any thought to calling him anything other than Agent Callen. That's who he'd always been to her, and she wasn't sure she could change that. Of course, it probably wasn't exactly appropriate to think of him as an authority figure on a date. Maybe that was why it had been so awkward.

"You could call me G."

"Like Sam does?"

"My friends call me G," he said quietly. He reached across the table and took her hand. "Apart from anything else, I'd like to think we're friends."

"Yeah, we're friends, G," she said.

The name felt strange on her tongue, but a little exhilarating at the same time. There were precious few who called him that, and she felt special to be allowed to be among that number.

"Is that all we are?" he asked.

She squeezed his hand. That was the $64,000 question, and one she'd thought about endlessly over the last few months.

"I think we're past being friends. But as to what we are," she said, shrugging one shoulder, "I guess that remains to be seen. Tonight's a good start, though."

"That it is," he said, smiling at her.

It was still a little awkward, and she had a feeling it would be for a while, but time would take care of that. She liked Callen, liked his honesty and forthrightness. She liked his strength and determination. They were an unlikely pair, but then again, her parents had been unlikely, too, and they were still going strong. Sometimes it took opposites to make a relationship work, and she was willing to bet that if they could get over this momentary weirdness, they could be good together, too.

"You about done?" he asked when the silence stretched.

"Yep," she said, nodding her head.

Callen flagged down their waiter and paid the check, then helped her into her sweater before walking her out of the restaurant, a hand at her back. They were quiet on the way back to OSP, but it wasn't the awkward silence of before, just the comfortable silence of two people not afraid to be quiet with each other.

When they pulled into the parking lot, Callen pulled up beside Nell's car. She raised her eyebrow at him, wondering how he knew which one was hers.

"It's my job to know," he said, as if he'd been reading her mind.

She shook her head. "Sometimes I forget you're an investigator."

He chuckled. "Come on, I'll walk you to your car."

She didn't bother trying to tell him that her car was barely five feet away. He seemed intent on taking care of her, and she was going to let him. He opened her door and took her hand to help her out. He waited while she opened her car and tossed her bag onto the passenger seat.

When she turned back to him, he stepped close and cupped her cheek in his hand, lowering his lips to hers. The kiss was whisper soft at first, just a barely there brushing of the lips. Not content to leave it at that, Nell pushed up into him, gripping his shirt in her fingers as she deepened the kiss. Her lips parted under his, and their tongues tangled together as if they had minds of their own.

Long minutes passed as they clung to each other. Finally, they pulled apart. Nell was glad for the car behind her, because at this point she wasn't sure she'd be able to remain standing without it. She looked up at Callen, a secret smile spreading on her face as she took in the wrecked look on his face, satisfaction suffusing her at the knowledge that she'd done that to him.

Callen ran his fingers up into her hair, cradling her head in his hand. He looked deep into her eyes, searching for something, though she had no idea what. Finally, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Come home with me?" he asked quietly.

Nell bit her lip. His words made her heart sing, but she didn't want to move too fast. This was new territory for both of them, and she was wary of messing it up. Still, he'd asked, and she didn't want to say no.

"Yeah."

~o~

The drive back to his place was both interminable and far too short. Callen spent the entire time second, third and fourth guessing the wisdom of inviting Nell back to his house.

This had been only their first date, and he was enough of a gentleman to never ask a lady to put out on the first date. Except that whatever had been going on between the two of them had been going on long enough. Sure, they'd been stalled on the cusp of whatever it was for too long now, but even Callen wasn't foolish enough to believe that things would simply fall into place. Neither of them seemed to be able to take that last step, and he was tired of waiting.

It wasn't unusual for him to leap first and look afterwards, this thing with Nell notwithstanding. But he'd been looking at it for a while now, and he'd come to the same conclusion every time: he wanted this, but he knew he'd have to be the one to push things. Nell wasn't as sure around him as he was around her, so if he wanted her, it was up to him to make the first move.

Still, it struck him as odd that they seemed to be doing the whole thing out of order. They'd kissed long before their first date, and now, after just one date, he was bringing her home. The thing was, he'd never worried this much about making a move on a woman before. He'd had sex with plenty of women in his lifetime, and never once had he worried that it might be too soon. The only explanation he had for it was that, with Nell, it felt right.

It wasn't his best argument, but it was the only way he could explain it.

He pulled his car into the driveway, catching sight of Nell's car pulling up at the curb out front. He killed the engine and stepped out of the car, waiting for her on the front walk.

"Nice house," she said as she joined him.

"Thanks," he said, smiling down at her. "Hetty picked it out for me."

"Hetty?" Nell asked as she followed him up the walk to his front door. "Why did Hetty pick your house for you?"

Callen unlocked the front door and pushed it open, standing back so Nell could walk in ahead of him. Once inside, he pulled the door shut behind him and leaned against it, just watching as Nell took in the room.

"Wow, you really do like Minimalism, don't you?" she asked, shooting a smirk over her shoulder.

"Funny," he said.

She wasn't wrong, though. The living room had just his favorite chair and a floor lamp, with stacks of books surrounding those two lonely pieces of furniture. There were a couple of pictures on the mantle, and his box of keepsakes, but that was the sum total of furniture in the room.

"Any particular reason why?" she asked, turning around and stepping closer to him as she dropped her bag on the floor near the door.

He reached out and tugged her closer, wrapping his arms around her. She leaned back, catching his eye as she gave him an expectant look.

Callen shrugged. "I don't need much."

"You could have bought a smaller house, you know."

"I used to live here, a long time ago," he said. "I have… good memories here."

"Ah," she said, a knowing glint in her eye. "And Hetty knew that."

"Pretty much."

They fell silent then, just standing in the entry, looking into each other's eyes. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it seemed they were stuck again. He'd asked Nell to come home with him, but now that they were there, his nerves were starting to get the better of him.

And then Nell took the decision out of his hands.

She slipped out of his arms, walking backwards out of the room as she peeled her sweater off, dropping it on the floor.

"Where are you going?" he asked as he watched her start to pull off her tunic.

"I thought I'd see if your bedroom's decorated in that same Minimalist style," she said, winking cheekily at him. Before she turned the corner down the hall, she tossed her shirt at him.

Callen's mouth went dry. Red. Her bra had been red.

He groaned quietly. "I'm not going to survive this."

~o~

Later the next night…

"So, what did you tell Eric?"

They were curled up in Callen's chair, Nell on his lap as they fed each other Chinese food straight from the cartons. It had been a long day, and while the case had been wrapped up it was by no means the end of the mission. This was just the eye of the storm, a stolen moment before they headed out to secure the devices they'd only just discovered.

"What makes you think I told him anything?" Nell asked.

"Because he asked," Callen said.

"How do you—"

"It's Eric," he said, smirking. "Of course he asked."

Callen had a point. Eric's curiosity knew no bounds, and seeing Nell do the walk of shame would be too much for him to resist. Nell sighed.

"I told him I went drinking with Hetty."

Callen raised an eyebrow. "And you don't think he's going to check?"

"Eric?" she asked, raising her own eyebrow. "Ask Hetty to confirm anyone's alibi?"

"Point taken," Callen said. He waited a beat, then asked the question she thought maybe he really wanted an answer for. "Why didn't you just tell him the truth?"

Nell leaned down and deposited her carton on the floor. She resettled herself on Callen's lap, considering her words carefully before she spoke.

"It's not that I'm ashamed of this," she said. She cupped his cheek with her hand and leaned in for a kiss, just a brush of the lips, before leaning back to meet his gaze. "I like you, but more than that, I like who I am when I'm with you. But you know what'll happen once the rest of the team finds out. We'll never hear the end of it." She shrugged. "Just for a little while, I want to enjoy this, without all the drama. Is that okay?"

Callen wound his arms around her, pulling her close and tucking her head under his chin. "That is more than okay with me."

Nell sighed, letting out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. It had only been a little over 24 hours since this thing had started in earnest, but already she was happier than she could ever remember being. Even with the threat of potential nuclear attacks on the horizon, she had everything she needed right here in this room.

She'd gladly endure Eric's teasing and a thousand walks of shame—bedhead included—if she could keep this feeling forever.

~Finis

Author's Post-Script:

The Muse flat refused to let me write the naughty bits, no matter how much I begged (and in truth, I didn't beg too much). She thinks (and I tend to agree) that this series should stay PG so that everyone can enjoy it. However, if you'd still like to read the naughty bits, just let me know. Muse has kindly agreed to let me write that if there's interest.

And there really is a sushi place called Mizu near where I live that makes the best spicy tuna rolls on the planet. I'm just saying.

Author's Post-Script (January 2014):

The naughty bits can now be found in the story Pleasure in the Revelation. You'll find it in my list of stories. Enjoy!